Machine for vending liquids.



O. H. CURTIS.

MACHINE FOB. VENDING LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED 13130111909.

99G, 3&4, Patented Apr. 25, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' WITNESSES: INVENTOR 76% 06M: v N M 5. m

1m am BY ATTORNEY G. H. CURTIS. MACHINE FOR VENDING LIQUIDS. APPLICATIONFILED DEO.17,1909.

990,344., Patented Apr. 25, 1911.

3 SHBETSSHEET 2. 66

INVENTOR 5%; ,Ju/ aam. v I:

G. H. CURTIS. MACHINE FOB. VENDING LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED 1130.17.1909. v

Patented Apr. 25', 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR WITNESSES I I BY .5 w I w ATTORNEY CHARLES H. CURTIS, 0F DERBY,CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE G. WATSON, 0F DERBY,CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR VENDING LIQUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Apr. 2 5, 1911'.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. Gun'ris,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Derby, county of New Haven,State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Machines forVending Liquids, of which the followingvis a specification.

large bot-tle placed within the machine. It

is, of course, Well understood that in the streets of cities, in publicbuildings and wherever there are large gatherings of people there isoften much inconvenience and no small amount of suffering from thirst,especially by women and children. My present invention enables me toprovide lemonade, root beer or any beverage of that character and moreespecially to provide pure cool water which will be automaticallydispensed by the machine upon payment of a minimum fee, as for exampleone cent, and the operation of a lever.

WVith the above and other objects in view I have devised the novelliquid vending machine which I will now describe, referring to theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and usingreference characters to indicate the several parts: Figure l is a frontelevation of my novel machine as in use; Fig. 2 a section on the line2-2 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, showing a form ofthe machine in which water is dispensed from a large bottle, ordinarilyfrom a five-gallon bottle; Fig. 3 a plan View on an enlarged scale ofthe bottle rest detached; Fig. 4 a section on the line 44 in Fig. 3;Fig. 5 a plan view on an enlarged scale of the operating mechanismdetached; Fig. 6 a longitudinal vertical section on the line 6-6 in Fig.5, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 7 a transverse verticalsection on the line 7-7 in Fig. 5 looking in the direction of thearrows; Fig. 8 a detail vertical section on the line 88 in Fig. 7looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the normal position ofthe parts, and Fig. 9 is a detail view showing the position of the partswhen the pawl is locked out of operative position.

1O denotes a casing and 11 framework within the casing by which theoperative parts are carried.

10 is that portion of the casing directly in front of the operatingparts.

Within the casing at the upper portion thereof is an ice chamber 12, icebeing indicated by 13, and below the ice chamber in the form shown is achamber 14: which receives a bottle 15 placed in inverted position andheld by suitable supports 16.

17 denotes the bottle rest, which is secured to asuitable fixed supportindicated by 18. The bottle rest comprises a hub 19 which passes Withinthe neck of the bottle and a shoulder 20 upon which the bottle rests, arubber ring or gasket 21 being interposed between the end of the bottleneck and the shoulder. The bottle rest is provided with a passage22-threaded to receive a pipe 23- through which Water passes from thebottle and which I term the supply pipe. A valve 24 is preferablyprovided in the supply pipe to shut off the flow of water from thebottle or other source of supply if required. An air passage 25 is alsoprovided in the bottle rest shown as threaded at both ends for theattachment of pipes, a pipe 26 extending from the rest upward nearly tothe bottom of the bottle so as to permit air to pass into the bottleabove the water and an inlet pipe 27 being used or not as preferred.

It will, of course, be understood that the special shape and size of thecasing and the arrangement of the liquid supply are not essentialfeatures of the invention. As for example, the casing maybe much smallerand supply pipe 23 may lead from a tank or source of supply outside thecasing and may or may not be coiled within the casing for the purpose ofcooling the liquid as preferred. In case no bottle is 'used the icechamber may be dispensed with if preferred and the liquid cooled outsidethe casing which would then simply be made large enough to contain theoperating mechanism. Ordinarily, however, an ice chamber will beprovided within the casing.

For convenience I will describe the machine as used in vending water,although it will of course be understood that any other liquid may bedispensed in the same'manner.

When valve 24: is opened Water passes freely from the source of supplyinto a receiving tank 28 until the tank is filled when the supply is cutoff by a valve 29. I have shown supply pipe 23 as connected to a hub 30carried by a cross iece 31 attached to the receiving tank. On t 1e underside of hub 30 is a seat 32 for valve 29. This valve is carceiving tankto the measuring tank water to the tank and prevent overflowing.

will pass from the supply pipe through hub 30 into the receiving tank.When the measuring tank is filled, the passage of water thereto is cutofl by a valve 37 as will presently be explained. As the water flowsinto the receiving tank the float will be raised until valve 29 isplaced in engagement with seat 32, which will stop the passage of watfirT e instant valve 37 is again opened, however, the passage of water tothe measuring tank will cause the float to drop down and permit water topass to the receiving tank again, the receiving tank being made largeenough so that the machine may be kept in continuous operation,delivering water from the measuring tank, the water, as already ex--plained, being cooled either at a source of supply outside of themachine or within the machine if preferred by an ice chamber.

The vending operation is performed by mechanism I will now describe.

Between the receiving and the measuring tanks is a seat 38 for valve 37The stem 39 of the valve slides in a guide 40 carried by a yoke 41secured to and extending upward from the valve seat.

42 denotes a link pivoted to the valve stem and to a lever 43 which hasits fulcrum in a standard 44 and the other end of which is connected bymeans of a link 45 to the mid length of a lever 46 extendingat rightangles to lever 43. One end of lever 46 is pivoted to a bracket 47 onthe framework and the other end is pivoted to a slide 48 which moves inways 49 on the framework. The slide is provided with a slot 50 at thebottom of which is a ledge 51, the ledge, and the back and one wall ofthe slot being clearly shown in Fig. 7. The upper end of the slotextends entirely through the slide and receives the end of lever 46 asclearly shown in Figs. 5 and 7. Thefront of the casing is provided witha coin slot 52 extending through from the outer'side. 53 is a face plateon the outer side of the casing having a corresponding coin slot whichis made just long enough to receive a coin of the required denomination,as for example, a penny. Upon the inner side of the casing is a swingingcover plate 54 having a handle 55' for conrenience in operation. Thiscover plate is adapted to be swung over the coin slot to close it on theinner side so as to prevent coins from being passed into the slot shouldthe machine be out of order or the supply of water or other beverage beexhausted. Ordinarily the cover plate lies backward out of the way as inFig. 8 leaving the coin slot open. \Vhen a coin is passed through thecoin slot it enters a way 56, the upper portion of which is inclined andthe lower portion verti- 'cal. When the coin reaches the vertical porendto an arm 58 extending from standard 44.

59 denotes an operating shaft journaled in the framework andin the frontof the casing. This shaft carries an operating plate 60 and a combinedratchet and cam plate 61 within the casing and an operating lever 62outside the casing.

63 denotes the ratchet portion of the plate 61 and 64 the cam portion.

The operating lever is provided with a handle 65 for convenience inoperation and is inclosed by a guard plate 66 which limits its movementin each direction. Backward movement of the operating shaft before itsforward movement has been completed, as will be more fully explained, isprevented by a pawl 67 pivoted on the inner side of the casing andretained in engagement with ratchet 63 by a spring 68. Near the end ofthe forward movement of the operating lever (in the present instance anupward ment with the ratchet by the cam and is locked in the raised'positionby a dog 69 which is retainedin the locking position by shouldit not drop by gravity. The special form of engagement of the lockingdog with movement) pawl 67 is raised 'out of engagethe pawl 67 is ofcourse unimportant so far as the principle of the invention isconcerned. I have shown the dog as provided with a shoulder 73 and thepawl as provided with an arm 74 which is adapted to engage the shoulder.The construction may be greatly varied, however, without departing fromthe principle of the invention.

Water passes from the measuring tank by means of a pipe 75 extendingthrough the front ofthe casing, the end of which is curved downward toform a spout.

76 denotes a valve of any suitable construction in pipe 75 whose stem 77is pivoted to a lever 78 which has its fulcrum on an arm 79' extendingfrom any fixed portion of the structure, as for example, from valve 76(see Fig. 5). I

80 denotes a lifting bar which is pivoted to the free end of lever 78and is provided at its upper end with a plate 81 lying in the horizontalplane which is adapted to be engaged by a lug or finger 82 extendingfrom operating plate 60. In the normal position of the parts lug orfinger 82 holds the lifting bar and lever 78 in the raised position andvalve 76 is open (see Fig. 6 in connection with Fig. 5). The instant theoperating lever is swung upward, however, the lug passes from underplate 81 and the lifting bar and lever drop closing valve 76 by gravity,the closin of said valve taking place before valve 3 which lets waterpass from the receiving tank to the measuring tank, is

opened, as will be more fully explained.

83 denotes air pipes, four being shown in the present instance, whichextend upward through the receiving tank and permit air to enter themeasuring tank freely. These pipes are shown as supported by braces 84which extend from the top of the receiving tank.

The operation of the machine as a whole is as follows: The operatorplaces a coin in the slot which drops down in the coin way until itrests upon ledge 51 in slide 48, the rear edge of the coin lying in theupper end of the vertical portion of the coin way as clearly shown inFig. 7. The operator then swings the operating lever upward. The firsteffect of this movement is to release plate 81 and the lifting bar 80and cause valve 76, which closes the measuring tank, to close bygravity. An instant later the lower edge of operating plate 60 (see Fig.7) presses the coin and slide 48 downward until the coin passes belowthe lower end of the vertical portion of the coin way when it drops outinto the casing or into a suitable receptacle (not shown). Thisoperation will be readily understood from Fig. 7 which shows theposition of the parts before the movement of the operating platecommences. It will be noted that the coin rests upon ledge 51 and liespartly in slot 50 in the slide and partly in the vertical portion of thecoin way, the operating plate swinging in the space indicated by 85between the coin way and the slide. Juggling with the machine isprevented by the engagement of pawl 67 with the ratchet portion of plate61. The purpose of this pawl is to prevent any backward movement of theoperating lever and operating shaft until after the coin has dropped outof the coin way and slide and into the receptacle. Near the end of theupward movement of the operating lever and the downward'movement of theoperating plate the cam portion 64 of plate 61 will engage pawl 67 andraise it out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet portion of'saidplate in which position it is locked through the engagement of shoulder73 on dog 69 with arm 74 on the pawl. The pawl will remain in thisdisengaged position until pin 71 on the dog is engaged by pin 72,extending from the operating shaft, near the end of the return movementof the operating lever, operating shaft and operating plate. At thecommencement of the operating movement as soon as the operating plateand coin commence to move slide 48 downward, lever 46 which is pivotedto the slide will commence to move downward also and through link 45,lever 43 and link 42 which is pivoted to the stem *of valve 37 willraise said valve and permit water to pass from the receiving tank to themeasuring tank. It will be understood, however, that no water can passfrom the measuring tank for the reason that the first effect of themovement of the operating lever and operating plate is to release plate81, which normally holds valve 76 open, and permit said valve to closeby gravity. As already explained as soon as water commences to flow fromthe receiving tank to the measuring tank the float in the receiving tankwill drop down which will open valve 29 and permit water to flow fromthe source of sup ply to the receiving tank. This flow will continue,however, only until the receiving tank is filled, when the rising of thefloat will again close valve 29, so that no harm, can be done and therewill be no overflow from the receiving tank even if the water in themeasuring tank is not drawn ofl'. It should be noted furthermore thatduring the upward movement of the operating lever as soon as the coindrops out from the slide and coin way, spring 57 will at once returnlever 46 and the slide to their normal position and will also actuatelinks 45 and 42 and lever 43 and return valve 37 to its closed positionwhich shuts off the passage of water to the measuring tank. It is notnecessary that the operating lever should be swung to the extreme of itsforward movement although in practice it will ordinarily be thrownupward until its movement is single operating member &

stopped by the guard plate. The forward movement of the operating levermust, howdog to release pawl 67, and lug 82 on the operating plate willengage plate 81 on the lifting bar 80 which will open valve 76 andpermit the contents of the measuring tank' to pass out through pipe 7 5and into a tumbler or other drinking vessel.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. A machine of the character described comprising a receiving tank, ameasuring tank, a valve for controlling the liquid passing from saidreceiving tank to said measuring tank, a valve controlling the outlet ofsaid measuring tank, levers for independently operating said valves, aslide connect'ed with the levers of the first mentioned nected with thelevers of the first mentioned valve, a lifting plate connected with thelevers of the other valve, and a single member provided'with means foralternately actuating said slide and said lifting plate.

3. A machine of the character described comprising a receiving tank, ameasuring tank, a valve for controlling the liquid passing from saidreceiving tank to said measuring tank, a valve controlling the outlet ofsaid measuring tank, levers for independently operating said valves, aslide connected with the levers of the first mentioned valve, a liftingplate connected with the levers of the other valve, and a single memberprovided with means for alternately actuat-ing said slide and saidlifting plate, and means for preventing reverse movement of said platewhile the valve of the receiving tank is opened.

4:. A machine of the character described comprising a receiving tank, anoutlet valve therefor, a measuring tank, an outlet valve for saidmeasuring tank, a lifting plate for operating said measurin tank valve,a

For alternately actuating said receiving tank valve and said liftingplate, and means for seating said ,receiving tank valve independently ofthe movement of said operating member.

5. A machine of the character described comprising a receiving tank, anoutlet valve therefor, a measuring tank, an outlet: valve for saidmeasuring tank, a lifting plate for operating said measuring tank valve,amember for operating said receiving tank valve and provided with afinger adapted to raise said lifting plate.

(3. A machine of the character described comprising a receiving tank, anoutlet valve therefor, a measuring tank, an outlet valve for saidmeasuring tank, a slide for operating said receiving tank valve, alifting member for operating the measuring tank valve, and anoscillating member provided with means for operating said slide whenmoved in one direction and for operating said lifting plate when movedin the opposite direction.

7. A machine of the character described comprising a receiving tank, anoutlet valve therefor, a measuring tank, an outlet valve for saidmeasuring tank, a slide for operating said receiving tank valve, alifting member for operating the measuring tank valve, and anoscillating member provided with means for operating said slide whenmoved in one direction and for operating said lifting plate'when movedin the opposite direction, and means for returning said slide to itsnormal position independently of the movement of said oscillatingmember.

8. A machine of the character described comprising a receiving tank, anoutlet valve therefor, a measuring tank, an outlet valve for saidmeasuring tank, a single operating member for both valves, and means forclosing said receiving tank valve independently of the movement of saidoperating member, a ratchet member operatively connected with saidoperating member, a pawl for engaging said ratchet, a cam fordisengaging said pawl, a dog for catching said pawl when disengaged, andmeans for disengaging said dog from said pawl.

91A machine of the character described comprising a receiving tank, anoutlet valve therefor, a measuring tank, an outlet valve for saidmeasuring tank, a single operating member for both valves, an operatingshaft for said operating member, a plate secured to said shaft andhaving a ratchet portion and a cam portion, a pawl for engaging saidratchet, said cam being so located as to periodically lift said pawl, adog for catching said pawl when lifted, and means for disengaging saiddog and pawl.

10. A machine of the character describedcomprising a receiving tank, anoutlet valve therefor, a measuring tank, an outlet Valve for saidmeasuring tank, a slide for operating the receiving tank valve, a singleoperating member for moving said slide in one direction and alternatelyoperating said measuring tank valve, and means for returning said slideindependently of the movement of said operating member, a pawl andratchet mechanism for preventing reverse movement of said operatingmember while in engagement with said slide, means for rendering saidpawl and ratchet mechanism inoperative when said operating member andslideare out of engagement, whereby said operating member may return toits normal position, and means for rendering said pawl and ratchetmechanism operative when the return movement of the operating member iscompleted.

11. The combination with a casing having a bottle holding chamber, arest located therein for receiving a bottle in an inverted position andhaving a supply conduit communicating with the interior of the bottle, areceiving tank connected with the delivery end of said conduit, a valvecontrolling the said conduit, a valve controlling the outlet from saidreceiving tank, an oscillating member for operating said receiving tankvalve, means for seating said receiving tank valve independently of theoperation of said operating member, and means for automatically openingand closing the conduit valve as the receiving tank valve is opened andclosed.

12. The combination with a casing having a bottle holding chamber, arest located therein for receiving a bottle in an inverted position andhaving a supply conduit communicating with the interior of the bottle,a'receiving tank connected with the delivery end of said conduit, avalve controlling the said conduit, a valve controlling the outlet fromsaid receiving tank, an oscillating member for operating said receivingtank valve, means for seating said receiving tank valve independently ofthe operation of said operating member, and a float controlling theoperation of said conduit valve.

13. The combination with a casing having a bottle holding chamber, arest located therein for receiving a bottle in an inverted position andhaving a supply conduit communicating with the interior of the bottle, a

receiving tank connected with the delivery end of said conduit, a valvecontrolling the said conduit, a valve controlling the outlet from saidreceiving tank, a measuring tank, an outlet valve therefor, anoscillating member for operating said receiving tank valve and saidmeasuring tank valve, means for closingthe receiving tank valveindependently of the movement of said operating member, and means forautomatically operating said conduit valve in time with said receivingtank valve.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BYRON W. WHEELER, ALMoN L. MINER.

